One of the books that I remember that got me hooked on reading quite a bit was Lord of the Flies by William Golding. It was one of my favorites that I'd had to read in high school, I was a sophomore and I'd just changed schools after we moved districts (by moving four streets over I had to completely change schools middle of sophomore year).
Lord of the Flies was one of those books that my English teacher turned into a completely "hands on" interactive unit. We were "living" on the island during class each day of the unit. We had five to ten minutes at the beginning of class to ask questions and get assignments for the day concerning chapter reading and various other assignments pertaining to the book/unit we were on.
We also had about five to ten minutes at the end of class to ask questions about the assignments and homework for the book. My favorite assignment was our major assignment for the entire unit...I made the island as a cake. It was full of green frosting and was quite tasty when all said and done. I'd also made cupcakes to share with the class since the cake ultimately could not really be eaten due to the foam additions and glue and toothpicks and various other addition to it.
I remember wondering what life would be like if things like that happened here and we were actually stuck living like the children on the island. Trying to survive and ultimately things turning brutal and savage as those vestiges of humanity were stripped away as we fought to survive each and every day, and that was how I got sucked into the worlds that had been created in the different books. In this regard I've also learned that ultimately reverting to the savagery of the children in the book is not something that I strive for. I strive to actually be a better person that is not driven by the simple need for survival, but to actually connect and help people. This book was actually one of those that helped get me out of that "super shy" phase that I was in because it prompted me to actually talk to people and stop being so afraid of what is coming in the future, because at any given point the powers that be could take it away and we could be struggling in such a situation but encompassing all of society.
I love books that have a world that I can be sucked into, pulled into and ultimately become a part of as well as having quite a bit of my own little quirks tossed into what I already know about the world. The world in a story has to be something that will draw me in and ultimately make me constantly want to return, and if there was a "lesson" or message to the story that took me more than one time to read that was all the better especially if I became invested in the story and struggled along side the characters. Some I hate, some I love, some I am indifferent towards, but always something well written will hold my attention.